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The Beatnigs
Studio album by the Beatnigs
Released	1988
Recorded	1988; Dancin' Dog Studio, Emeryville, California
Genre	Industrial hip hop, political hip hop, experimental rock, spoken word
Label	Alternative Tentacles
Producer	The Beatnigs

The Beatnigs is the only album by the San Francisco band the Beatnigs, released in 1988. It combined punk, industrial and hip hop influences.

Production

Michael Franti wrote all of the lyrics to the songs; he also played bass. The album was produced by the Beatnigs. An enclosure explaining the origins of the band's name was included with the album.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Spin Alternative Record Guide	7/10

Spin wrote that the album mixed "the Last Poets’ severe rhetoric with the horrific industrial grinding of Einstürzende Neubauten." Trouser Press said that "this striking San Francisco quintet explodes in a tight and danceable riot of industrial percussion, vocals and tape manipulations." The New York Times called the album "a powerful conglomeration of taped sounds—speeches by Malcolm X, for instance—industrial noise made with saws, sirens and oil drums, and a conventional rhythm section."

MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide called it "the most interesting and innovative album any of Franti's three groups has made, loaded with sonic twists and turns." The Spin Alternative Record Guide deemed it "an angrier warm-up to De La Soul a year later: choppy beats mingled with inflammatory news items, goofy how-to spiels, exhortations from Malcolm X and others, and twisted loops of electro-industrial din."

Track listing

All songs written by the Beatnigs.

1. "(Welcome) - Television"
2. " C.I.A."
3. "(Instructions) - When You Wake Up In The Morning"
4. "(The Experience Of All Of Us) - Street Fulla Nigs"
5. " (Re-Classification) - Control"
6. "Malcolm X"
7. "Nature"
8. "Burritos"
9. "Rooticus Sporaticus"
10. "Who Is Doing This To All My People"
11. "Rules"

CD 'bonus tracks'

• "Jazzy Beats"
• "Pre-War America"
• "Television" (Radio Edit)
• "Television" (Remix)

Personnel

The Beatnigs

• Henry Flood - congas, timbales, industrial percussion
• Andre Flores - keyboards, sampling, vocals, industrial percussion
• Michael Franti - vocals, bass, tape edits, industrial percussion
• Kevin Carnes- vocals, tape edits, industrial percussion
• Rono Tse - industrial percussion, circular saw, siren electric buzzer, tire rim, chains, whistle, oil drum, shakers, tambourines

Also

• Robert Collins - piano

Engineer

• David "Davy D" Bryson

Remix

• "Television" (Remix) remixed by Adrian Sherwood, Gary Clail and Mark Stewart

References

1. "s/t". May 21, 2018.
2. "The Beatnigs | Biography & History". AllMusic.
3. "Pop Music : A Mellow Trip 'Home' : Michael Franti drops the aggression and evokes soul-R&B; traditions to celebrate community, family". Los Angeles Times. September 18, 1994.
4. Rabaka, Reiland (April 4, 2013). The Hip Hop Movement: From R&B and the Civil Rights Movement to Rap and the Hip Hop Generation. Lexington Books. ISBN 9780739181171 – via Google Books.
5. ^ Watrous, Peter (July 15, 1988). "POP/JAZZ; Rock by Any Other Name Is 'Alternative' (Published 1988)". The New York Times.
6. ^ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 1065.
7. Sullivan, Denise (March 1, 2011). Keep on Pushing: Black Power Music from Blues to Hip-hop. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 9781569769065 – via Google Books.
8. "Beatnigs - The Beatnigs | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
9. ^ Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. p. 115.
10. "Louder Than Bombs: Death Grips and Killer Mike". Spin. June 23, 2012.
11. "Beatnigs". Trouser Press. Retrieved 1 March 2021.

• 1988 debut albums
• Alternative Tentacles albums